1) Abramovich has a right to feel smug with his summer business

Roman Abramovich was in attendance at Stamford Bridge to witness two of the signings he had championed from Russian football justify their transfer fees and wage packages on the grand stage. Samuel Eto'o rolled back the years here, subjecting Manchester United to a torrid afternoon by showcasing his predatory instincts. A player whose spell in the Premier League will be fleeting given the likelihood he will depart for Major League Soccer in the summer now boasts six goals in eight Premier League starts, which feels far from shabby. He will be needed with Fernando Torres now crocked once again. Then there was Willian, another lured from Anzhi Makhachkala, whose menacing runs and energy threatened United throughout. The Brazilian has grown into this league, his fitness tuned now and his rhythm established. He increasingly looks a powerful presence to justify the hefty £30m fee. José Mourinho will hardly have been dismayed to see either player recruited, particularly given his previous work with Eto'o at Internazionale, yet these feel like Abramovich signings. The owner could relish their impact, and the influence they can go on to have in the title run in. Dominic Fifield

2) Rodgers's Gerrard discussion may come sooner than expected

Over his long and illustrious career Steven Gerrard has made headlines by being a gallivanting giant around the pitch, shooting down the odds stacked against his team with incredible strikes, lung-busting runs and bone-crunching tackles. What he has never been, is a midfield metronome. At his most effective he was a second striker to Fernando Torres. At his most prolific, he was a right-sided midfielder who cut in. In both these roles his athleticism was key. Tailoring this kind of game is difficult for an ageing player who has never been able to control traffic in midfield, instead preferring to bustle his way through it. Rodgers's midfield has looked at its most fluent this season with a trio of Lucas Leiva, Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson, each sharing the responsibility between them in the absence of Gerrard. Henderson, particularly, has looked like the shackles have been taken off without the shadow of his club captain looming over him. Gerrard struggled badly in the first half of the 2-2 draw against Aston Villa. He may not be a spent force yet, especially given that Lucas – whose presence as a second-half substitute brought an assuredness back into Liverpool's play – may face a spell on the sidelines, but if a successful Champions League push means fielding a midfield without England's World Cup captain, then Rodgers may have to get even more creative with his formations or find himself having a tricky conversation much sooner than anticipated. Gregg Bakowski

3) Adebayor is a player reborn ... but he's always scored goals

There was a stat that flashed up during Tottenham Hotspur's 3-1 victory at Swansea City on Sunday that seemed difficult to believe at first. Emmanuel Adebayor had just scored his second and Tottenham's third to take the Togolese to 88 Premier League goals, overtaking Dennis Bergkamp. Bergkamp, of course, was not an out-and-out striker in the same way as Adebayor (he was also nothing like as high maintenance), but it was still a little surprising that a man who divides opinion among fans at all three of his Premier League clubs, and who has not been a mandatory pick at his last two (Spurs and Manchester City), has scored so prolifically. What is clear is that Adebayor is enjoying a new lease of life at Spurs since Tim Sherwood replaced André Villas-Boas as manager last month. Adebayor has scored five Premier League goals in six starts under Sherwood. Roberto Soldado has the same total in 18 starts for Spurs this season – and four of those goals were from the penalty spot. Full of running and playing with a smile on his face, Adebayor is a player reborn. Against Swansea, his movement was sharp, his link up play intelligent and his goals well taken. More than anything, though, he looks like he is enjoying his football again. It will be interesting to see how performs in his next game for Spurs, which is against Manchester City on Wednesday week. Adebayor's only appearance under Villas-Boas this season was in the humiliating 6-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium in November. Spurs, on the evidence of what we have seen so far under Sherwood, are a different team from the one that surrendered so meekly that day. Stuart James

4) Poyet must not risk Fletcher against United

Steven Fletcher remains Sunderland's most dangerous striker but, given the team's woeful league position, Gus Poyet surely cannot afford to risk playing him against Manchester United in the League Cup semi-final. After Saturday's 2-2 draw with Southampton the Uruguayan revealed Fletcher had an inflamed achilles tendon and lacked the mobility to participate in the pre-game warm up. Later, he was able to pedal an indoor exercise bike and eventually came on for the last 18 minutes, doing quite well. Poyet conceded this had been a gamble but while taking such a risk is arguably acceptable in the context of chasing league points in a relegation fight, it would be no way justifiable in a cup context. Sunderland lead 2-1 from the first leg but United are still favourites to face Manchester City in the final. Fletcher's presence might, just might, change that but, unless he makes a miraculous recovery from his present injury, Poyet should resist the temptation to spin the roulette wheel with him again and face potentially losing the Scotland striker for the rest of the season. And particularly not after the Sunderland manager's words on Saturday evening. "Fletch wasn't moving but I asked him if he was able to take a risk for the club and his team-mates and the fans," said Poyet. "He has a little inflammation in his achilles. It's a tricky injury and, with the achilles, it can get worse. I know players are paid well but if he had got injured I would have felt responsible so I have to thank him." Louise Taylor

5) Newcastle must show ambition or accept their lot

Newcastle have a curious dilemma. Their involvement in the Europa League last season caused such disruption to their squad that they were in serious danger of going down, even after a splurge in the January transfer window. Yet now that Alan Pardew has a fully fit squad to choose from, Newcastle have performed more like the side that almost qualified for the Champions League in the 2011-12 season, only to finish fifth and end up in the less lucrative and glamorous European competition. Scarred by that experience and the way that the Europa League drained resources, Pardew did not sound especially fussed about qualifying for it again after Newcastle's impressive 3-1 victory over West Ham. "We don't talk about fifth," he joked. But what is the ultimate aim for Newcastle? Knocked out of both cups early on, they are content in eighth place and although they have an extremely good side, the feeling persists that it could be even better if the chairman, Mike Ashley, was willing to show more ambition in the transfer market. It means that fans are pessimistic about their chances of keeping Yohan Cabaye – outstanding in the No10 position at West Ham but reportedly a target for Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain – and making Loïc Rémy's loan move from Queens Park Rangers permanent. Cabaye and Rémy are both Champions League-quality players but the latter was their only signing last summer. If they were joined by more players of that calibre, Newcastle would start going places – or they could end up in the Europa League again and no one seems to want that. Yet it is impossible to stand still in the Premier League. In the end, you get overtaken and it would be a shame if this Newcastle side was not allowed to realise its full potential. The opportunity has presented itself – now Newcastle need to seize it. Jacob Steinberg

6) Arsenal learn to cope without Özil in top gear

Mesut Özil is in curious form. He has certainly not been awful but nor has he been as awesome as he was earlier in the season. The encouraging thing for Arsenal is that they are still winning and still top of the league despite the German's dip (and despite the absence of the other main early-season inspiration, Aaron Ramsey). But to continue fending off Manchester City and Chelsea they will likely need Özil to regain his A-game, especially for the daunting run of fixtures during February and March. "He doesn't need to be criticised, he just needs to be encouraged," says Arsène Wenger, who reckons that, other than haphazard finishing, Özil remains in fine form. "Sometimes people expect him to make the difference alone. Sometimes when he doesn't work, you expect him to take the ball and put it in the net. But he's more of a passer than a finisher. I think the consistency of his quality, of the quality of his passing, slowly drains the opponent. He always passes where they don't want him to do it. That slowly helps us to take over." Paul Doyle

7) When will penalty-box grappling be penalised?

Some will claim the controversy over Liverpool's penalty against Aston Villa arose purely from Luis Suárez being the beneficiary, conveniently ignoring the controversy that surrounded Raheem Sterling when he won a softer penalty decision at Stoke City last weekend. Brendan Rodgers described that award as a "Spanish penalty" and Saturday's as "a Uruguayan penalty". What will concern the Liverpool manager is not the distances his team are travelling to get spot-kicks but the need for one to get them out of trouble on successive weekends. The referee Jon Moss gave an honest, split-second decision when, from his angle, Brad Guzan appeared to slide through Suárez's feet. There was contact, but less than when Ciaran Clarke was grappled at a corner before heading against a post at Anfield. It was the kind of contact that goes on at every set-piece delivery into the area in a Premier League game. Why the discrepancy? Andy Hunter

8) Swashbuckling City still vulnerable on corners

In Manchester City's 4-2 win over Cardiff City Fraizer Campbell repeated his act from the Welsh club's 3-2 victory in the reverse game when the striker nipped in from a corner to finish. "I said before the match that Cardiff scored from two corners in the first game, and that was the last two corners [City have conceded from]. In the second half [on Saturday] there was another corner. The only team who have scored against us from a corner are Cardiff," the manager, Manuel Pellegrini, offered. Yet there have been other instances of City appearing vulnerable from the high ball, during open play, and as the Chilean attempts to hunt down a historic quadruple - with a trip to Chelsea in the Premier League, and to Barcelona in the Champions League, looming into view – he will not want any repeats. Jamie Jackson

9) Will Palace stay up with their current squad?

Tony Pulis has made no secret of his desire to strengthen in the January transfer window, but so far his efforts have been in vain. Pulis has a week and a half to add further quality but the players currently at his disposal have already demonstrated that they are worthy of the Palace shirt. Compared to the side that looked hapless and weak during the latter stages of Ian Holloway's reign, Palace are a team reborn. In typical Pulis style, against Stoke on Saturday they were difficult to break down and every player in the XI knew exactly what was required of him. Yannick Bolasie impressed and Jason Puncheon redeemed himself for a terrible penalty against Tottenham, while the defence was rarely troubled by Peter Crouch and co. The question is, can Pulis's current crop rely on merely being tight at the back for the rest of the season and hope for victories by the odd goal, or will they slip back to the foot of the table if a striker does not join by the end of the month? James Riach

10) Which is the bigger club: Norwich or Celtic?

When asked if he would be interested in a move to Celtic, following Norwich's 1-0 win over Hull, Robert Snodgrass gave a thinly veiled response. "Glasgow my hometown and I stay five seconds away from the stadium. I'm a Celtic fan and so many people have been texting me." Hardly the kind of talk Chris Hughton would want coming from his most creative player at present, even if he did later distance himself from a move. If Norwich are to survive this season, retaining their chief escape artist is surely paramount – the Scot's excellent set piece delivery resulted in the Canaries' winning goal on Saturday. But as we have seen with Craig Bellamy leaving Liverpool for Cardiff, and Fabricio Coloccini eager to leave Newcastle for his native Argentina, sentiment is not dead in the game. Gary Hooper obviously thought higher of Norwich when he left Celtic last summer but which is the bigger club? Many would see a move to the SPFL as a step down, but for a Glasgow boy, it is likely Snodgrass sees it differently from his English clubmate. Michael Butler